A wee quilt for my wee boy

I recently mentioned that I was visiting Emily's blog and spotted her cute kid's quilt made from Moda charm packs. It made me miss quilting, and it seemed like a quick and easy project that I was willing to take on.

I grabbed a couple of Max & Whiskers charm packs from Basic Grey for Moda and ordered 1-1/2 yards of one of the fabrics for the backing. I used 1/2 yard of another fabric for the binding, though that was cutting it close.

Here is the front:



Here is the back:



Close up of some of the fabrics. No, my corners don't always line up, but I try really hard.



I had an embroidered quilt tag made by esty.com seller From the Heart Creations. She was great about working with me to create a label that fit his full name.



This got me excited about quilting. I've already started on another charm pack quilt, this one with sashing. It's using the Dream On collection and has a vintage sheets feel to it. I'm already on my way with that one, so I'll have pics soon. I'm not sure who it's for yet. I guess I'll see how big it turns out and decide if it's a baby quilt or a lap quilt.

Bad hair days

It seems that on Additional Jesus, when it rains posts, it pours posts. I guess that's not bad after the drought this blog has been suffering. I get a few minutes and get to writing.

So, Brock is well-known for his crazy hair. He's got quite a puff on his head. Or, he did. I thought it was getting a bit out of hand, so I wanted to get his hair cut.



But Mark thought that was a waste of money. So when I was at work one night, he cut it himself. How hard can it be, right? You just cut straight across the bangs, right? And it looks good, right?



Um. Oops.

He looked super-dorky, you guys. I noticed it the next day when I got up. I couldn't stop laughing at him. It was crooked and had long pieces that were missed entirely. Oh, Lordy. I tried to fix it up, and for the most part did.

This is after a little work, but still dorky:



It doesn't look like my kid to me!!

But a little mousse and a comb, and he's stylin.



And fat. Did I mention FAT? I'm so proud. He gets those thighs from me!



That's Brock at 7 months.

A gift for my Brocky Boy

I was visiting Emily's blog, So Much for My Plans, and saw this adorable quilt that she made. I hope she doesn't mind that I posted it here.



It appeals to me because my sewing time is limited and it's just made with a charm pack, or pre-cut squares. No cutting = saving a lot of time. It's simple and beautiful. And I'm a copy cat, so I'm making one for Brock as a gift, maybe for his first birthday.

I'm using the Max & Whiskers collection from Moda.



I'll keep you posted! I'm excitedly watching the mailbox for my fabrics.

The new American Idol: Mark?

Yes, we are unabashed American Idol fans. I told myself I was done with it, though. After all the judge swaps, I wasn't sure I'd like it. Plus, it is so many hours a week of watching time, I felt I wouldn't have time with the baby and working evenings three nights a week.

But here I am.

There's a kid named Robbie Rosen, and every time I see him, I say, "Mark! It's you when you were younger!"

So, here you go. See for yourself.

My new-but-really-old Singer

I have a new family member to introduce you to! It's my new Singer, which is older than I am.



I got it from eBay Singerman12, who fully refurbishes and tests the machines he sells. It's adorable and tiny and extremely heavy. That's because it is made of all metal, in a they-sure-don't-make-'em-like-the-used-to kind of way.



It's an industrial strength machine, which means it can handle thick, heavy fabric in a way my Kenmore can't.



It's basic. It can only do a straight stitch. It came with lots of presser feet to do gathering, piping, zippers, etc., but no zig-zag, overcast or blind hem. But that's fine, because I can use my Kenmore for that. I was having some trouble doing free-motion quilting because the fabric was catching on the face plate. Then I noticed the metal was all chewed up, I guess from the needle striking it. The sewing machine repair shop said it was from sewing too-heavy fabric and forcing it through, thus bending the needle slightly out of whack.

Now I can get my Kenmore fixed up and use my Singer for heavy-duty work!

My Grandma

My grandma is going to be 90 this summer. She's always been healthy as a horse. My grandpa, that was a whole 'nother story. He had everything wrong with him, and maybe the fact that my grandma had to do everything and take care of everyone is what kept her strong and healthy.

She still lives alone and takes care of herself.

Until Tuesday evening, when she went outside to do something. She fell and cut up her head, and she broke her hip and pelvis several times. It was freezing out, and just after dark.

What did she do? She crawled. She could only use one leg. And did I mention she's about to turn 90? That's right. For a 90-year-old to crawl any distance at all would be hard. To do it with multiple bone breaks, the use of only one leg and a head wound, well, I can't even imagine.

But she's a tough cookie, and after some time out in the cold night, she made it into her house and called for help.

She's doing surprisingly well. She's alert and already had surgery and is doing physical therapy. She's in good spirits. Of course, we don't know what this means for her future or if she'll be able to recover enough to go home and live alone again. But I thank God that she had the strength to get inside. She would have likely frozen to death out there.

Brain sucking

I haven't posted many craft items lately, so I figured it was time. I hadn't knitted since I was pregnant, but my niece requested this hat, and it was a nice, quick knit.



It's a Chain Chomp from Super Mario Bros.




She's 10, but I needed a model, and Brock didn't mind having his head munched for a minute.



Pattern can be found here.



And here is what a Chain Chomp looks like:

Hope you like your naked guys soft and squishy!

I love the shamelessness of a nekkid baby! They love being that way and feel no embarrassment. It's beautiful.



Brock is almost 7 months old. He's sitting up strong and also standing strong, but only if I hold him.



He seems to be having a lot of cozy play-in-jammies kind of days lately with the freezing weather!



Well, tomorrow (Monday) is my birthday! I'm 37. What the heck?!

Mr. Brock turns 6 months old

What happened to my baby? He's 6 months old already. When I look at the back of his neck, I see a little boy's neck. Not a baby's! OK, so I'm insane.





He's getting nice and fat ...



He's so amazing. It's so fun now that he's interactive, alert and interested in his world. I know he's been that way for a while, but I don't get on and blog very often. He was a little difficult the first few months -- very fussy. But now, he's just a fabulous little boy.



He still doesn't roll over much. He sometimes goes back to belly, but he can't roll the other way and he gets really upset about being on his belly. For a long time, he slept a good 12-13 straight hours. But then he got a cold and ever since he's been waking around 4 or 5 a.m. for a feeding. I'm sort of eager for that to end, but then again, he goes right back down and then we sleep for quite a while, so I'm actually getting more sleep than when he started his day at 7 or so.

I'm only working 3 evenings a week outside the home right now, but I'm still doing the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog, so I'm very busy! I'm really grateful for that opportunity to earn money from home. I also manage their social networking (Facebook, twitter and flickr) and put together the newsletter.

Still breast-feeding, and that's going pretty good now. For a little while, I was having a lot of pain and discomfort, but I'm feeling better and think I can keep at it! We just started solids last week, and that's loads of messy fun.



He can also sit up like a big boy, but can flop over at any moment.



Brock loves his baths. LOVES THEM!!! He likes to get real stiff and hold his arms down at his sides while kicking off the bottom of his tub. He looks like he's doing Lord of the Dance. All the while, he has a very serious expression. Here, he's hiding his wee-wee from the pervs out there.



For now, I just enjoy cuddling my little angel as much as I can.

Overdressed snowmen

In a world of terrorist threats, crashing economies, joblessness, hunger, AIDS ... why aren't we asking the important questions?

Like, for example, why, if snowmen are made of snow, do they try to dress warmly? Wouldn't that, you know, make them melt? And therefore cease to exist more quickly? Shouldn't they be wearing as little clothing as possible? Maybe a swimsuit if they are concerned about decency?

Take, for instance, this guy, who is holding a sign praying for snow. Maybe he wouldn't need it to snow if he weren't wearing a damn snowsuit:



Then I got to looking around my house as we were decorating for Christmas and saw a recurring problem here. I believe it can mostly be attributed to snowmen having snow for brains. Here it is, guys: heat = too warm = bad for snow.























Oh, I'm sure I can find plenty more around this place, what with my husband's obsession with Christmas decorating, but I think you get the picture.

Christmas baby

Once again, I have not been blogging. Personal crafting is on the back burner right now, but here are a few Christmas pics of Brock, who is 5 months old.
He got his first tooth on Thanksgiving day and his second tooth today! He's sitting on his own just a bit. He had rolled over back to front a few times around a month ago, but he quickly stopped after realizing he was ending up in his least favorite position -- on his tummy.